I don't know why I find old game betas so interesting.

*Sigh*... It seems like every time I go to wikipedia, I end up going to a staple in history for Rom Hacking, and/or Beta/Alpha searching. Not any specific kind, I just do, any type, any game. Mostly Sonic. In fact, I'm reading a 42 Page Thread right now from a Web Forum dedicated to a specific Sonic 2 beta in which a beta-build incredibly similar to that of a build aired on television entitled "Nick Arcade Build" was discovered and tampered with, and suddenly I feel like putting my copy of Sonic 2 in my Sega Genesis. Like, right now. All night. And I don't CARE that Fireworks are going off behind my house this very instant, this is just too ****ing awesome.

Does anyone else ever find themselves completely trapped in a realm of discovery through un-used data in digital entertainment, which also happens to be insanely old news for their respective communities?

Or am I the only one?

I am also largely intrigued by old betas. The one I have dedicated the most time to following is the Resident Evil 2 Beta ("RE1.5"), which was totally different than the finished product and completely scrapped about 80% of the way into development. I remember playing the Sonic 2 one a long and being astounded that the ring-partner system from Knuckles Chaotix started there.

The Super Castlevania 4 beta is really something as well.

Ah, I remember that Ring System! I was very young at the time I discovered it, though. To me, it was a random Sonic game my brother found on the internet at the time I played it. It wasn't until much later that I realized it was a beta of sorts. The one I'm reading of now though has an interesting glitch in common with another beta, commonly known as "Wai". If Tails is to die, the Camera focuses on him when he dies, and when he comes back. Another interesting thing is that both betas appear to have a near-complete Hidden Palace Zone, which intrigues me so. n_n

Sadly, I haven't heard of this Castlevania 4 Beta. I'll definitely have to look it up, but I'll wait until after I beat the final version, so I can recognize more of the stuff.

As far as I go with unused data in games, are things that are on the disk but never implemented into the games. And easter eggs, if they count.

FF7's debug room was sort of like that. It's like, FF7 was released in 1997, but I can still discover stuff that no one's done before.

Nifty.

Old demos are interesting to me to see the differences between pre-release and final builds of games.

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Originally Posted by Kentarou

Does anyone else ever find themselves completely trapped in a realm of discovery through un-used data in digital entertainment, which also happens to be insanely old news for their respective communities?

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Does Starcraft mapmaking count?

anyways, I would think that it's the thrill of seeing a game come from inspiration to full development. It amkes the game more of an experince than something slapped in front of your face and someone telling you "pay me!"

I absolutely love concept art. Especially when you see it in its early stages, growing to become what you see in the game.

Shenmue's beta footage is interesting because it was originally plannned for the Saturn. Ico's is also interesting as that was originally meant to be on the PS1.

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Originally Posted by ZeZipster

FF7's debug room was sort of like that. It's like, FF7 was released in 1997, but I can still discover stuff that no one's done before.

Nifty.

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The debug room made me mad sometimes tho